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Terrence Ross scores 51, DeMar DeRozan hurt in Raptors loss: Kelly

In one of the wildest nights of basketball at the ACC, Ross tied a franchise record, while DeRozan left the game with an injury.

Terrence Ross, pictured going to the hoop against the Clippers' Jared Dudley, scored a record 51 points on Saturday night, but the Raptors still fell to defeat. (Rick Madonik / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

This was the wildest single-game ride of the season, simultaneously hitting its high and low.

The high? Terrence Ross finding a shooting groove so deep, that had you handed him a baby last night, he would’ve launched it.

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Ross had five three-pointers in the first quarter — a team record. He had seven in the first half — another team record.

By the end of the game, he could not help himself. So with the game already decided, the Clippers did it for him. Ross was fouled on the game’s final possession in the open court, and given two free throws.

He sank the first, giving him 51 points for the night. That’s tied for the franchise record with a certain Vince Carter. He missed the second.

There have been plenty of 50-point games in history. Really, the bar for greatness starts at 60.

But Ross’ was remarkable because it may have been the most unlikely 50-point night in NBA history.

It wasn’t Ross’ best professional game. It was his best game, period. And by several bajillion country miles.

Ross was asked if he’d ever scored 50 before.

“Never,” he said. “That’s my first time getting past 30.”

(I’m giving you all a very significant look.)

(And then a check of the records. Ross scored at least 30 twice at the University of Washington. So trust him with a basketball, not your taxes.)

To make that seismic leap, Ross doubled his previous career high (26). According to Elias Sports, he becomes the first player in league history to score 50 while averaging less than 10 points per game.

Bizarrely, Ross wasn’t even the most shocking moment of the night. That would be the moment when actor Laurence Fishburne, appearing well refreshed, was brought out of the audience to salute the ACC crowd.

Through most of a game that was largely bereft of stopping — “We left our defence at customs,” Rivers said — Toronto coach Dwane Casey looked ready to snap. The Raptors gave up 71 points in the first half, en route to the 126-118 defeat.

Casey was irate, screaming at players coming off the court in a manner rarely seen. But once it was over, he seemed only mildly bemused.

“For the fans, it was a great exhibition of basketball,” he sighed.

Near the end, he considered taking Ross out of the game — the second in a back-to-back.

“He was dead tired,” Casey said. It certainly began to show in his late-game shot mechanics.

But he let the kid take a run at it.

Now to the bad news, which has something to do with the good news. The reason Ross saw so much of the ball in the second half was because DeMar DeRozan was languishing in the locker room.

With eight minutes left in the second quarter, L.A.’s Hedo Turkoglu bundled heavily into DeRozan. The Raptors’ guard rolled his left ankle at a 90-degree angle. He crumpled to the floor.

Turkoglu looked around, hoping someone might reinvent Newtonian physics to spare him the blame. He looked down at DeRozan and smiled.

A few weeks ago, GM Masai Ujiri was chatting about his short-term vision for this club. As you might expect, the short-term vision is all over the place. Everything depends on how they perform. He was certain about one thing.

“Injuries,” Ujiri said. “That’s what haunts me.”

Patrick Patterson had his nose broken by a Blake Griffin elbow. In a truly Raptor-y touch, Patterson was called for a foul on the play.

But he’ll be OK; and even if he weren’t, this team would survive.

However, without DeRozan, this is an untenable exercise. There can be no true tank now — it’s too late for that. But it would be a tank without volition. This team would get very bad, very quickly.

Nonetheless, DeRozan played 10 more game minutes. He came out before the end of the first half to get re-taped. He went for two more minutes in the second half before giving up.

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